RA 9275

Question 1

What is RA 9275?

Answer 1

Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004

Question 2

aims to protect the country’s water bodies from pollution from land-based sources (industries and commercial establishments, agriculture and community/household activities).

Answer 2

RA 9275 - PH Clean Water Act of 2004

Question 3

means a layer of water-bearing rock located underground that transmits water in sufficient quantity to supply pumping wells or natural springs.

Answer 3

Aquifer

Question 4

means all organisms living in freshwater, brackish and marine environment.

Answer 4

Aquatic life

Question 5

means the use of the environment or any element or segment thereof conducive to public or private welfare, safety and health; and shall include, but not be limited to, the use of water for domestic, municipal, irrigation, power generation, fisheries, livestock raising, industrial, recreational and other purposes.

Answer 5

Beneficial use

Question 6

means the utilization of water for drinking, washing, bathing, cooking or other household needs, home gardens and watering of lawns or domestic animals;

Answer 6

Use of water for domestic purposes

Question 7

means the utilization of water for supplying water requirements of the community;

Answer 7

Use of water for municipal purposes

Question 8

means the utilization of water for producing agricultural crops;

Answer 8

Use of water for irrigation

Question 9

means the utilization of water for producing electrical or mechanical power;

Answer 9

Use of water for power generation

Question 10

means the utilization of water for the propagation of culture of fish as a commercial enterprise;

Answer 10

Use of water for fisheries

Question 11

means the utilization of water for large herds or flocks of animals raised as a commercial enterprise;

Answer 11

Use of water for livestock raising

Question 12

means the utilization of water in factories, industrial plants and mines, including the use of water as an ingredient of a finished product; and

Answer 12

Use of water for industrial purposes

Question 13

means the utilization of water for swimming pools, bath houses, boating, water skiing, golf courses and other similar facilities in resorts and other places of recreation.

Answer 13

Use of water for recreational purposes

Question 14

means the categorization of all water bodies taking into account, among others, the following: (1) existing quality of the body of water; (2) size, depth, surface area covered, volume, direction, rate of flow and gradient of stream; (3) most beneficial existing and future use of said bodies of water and lands bordering them, such as for residential, agricultural, aquacultural, commercial, industrial, navigational, recreational, wildlife conservation and aesthetic purposes; and (4) vulnerability of surface and groundwater to contamination from pollutive and hazardous wastes, agricultural chemicals and underground storage tanks of petroleum products.

Answer 14

Classification/Reclassification of Philippine Waters

Question 15

means non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs).

Answer 15

Civil Society

Question 16

means the application of an integrated, preventive environmental strategy to processes, products, services to increase efficiency and reduce risk to humans and the environment;

Answer 16

Cleaner Production

Question 17

means activities involving the removal of pollutants discharged or spilled into a water body and its surrounding areas, and the restoration of the affected areas to their former physical, chemical and biological state or conditions

Answer 17

Clean-up operations

Question 17

means the production of substances not found in the natural composition of water that make the water less desirable or unfit desirable or unfit for intended use.

Answer 17

Contamination

Question 18

includes, but is not limited to, the act of spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, releasing or dumping of any material into a water body or onto land from which it might flow or drain into said water.

Answer 18

Discharge

Question 19

means water intended for human consumption or for use in food preparation.

Answer 19

Drinking water

Question 20

means any unauthorized or illegal disposal into any body of water or land of wastes or toxic or hazardous material: Provided, That it does not mean a release of effluent coming from commercial, industrial, and domestic sources which are within the effluent standards.

Answer 20

Dumping

Question 21

means discharge from known sources which is passed into a body of water or land, or wastewater flowing out of a manufacturing plant, industrial plant including domestic, commercial and recreational facilities

Answer 21

Effluent

Question 22

means any legal restriction or limitation on quantities, rates, and/or concentrations or any combination thereof, of physical, chemical or biological parameters of effluent which a person or point source is allowed to discharge into a body of water or land.

Answer 22

Effluent standard

Question 23

means the entire system which includes, but is not limited to, conservation, regulation and minimization of pollution, clean production, waste management, environmental law and policy, environmental education and information, study and mitigation of the environmental impacts of human activity, and environmental research.

Answer 23

Environmental management

Question 24

means the part of the overall management system that includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environment policy.

Answer 24

Environmental management system

Question 25

means water containing less than 500 ppm dissolved common salt, sodium chloride, such as that in groundwater, rivers, ponds and lakes.

Answer 25

Freshwater

Question 26

means a subsurface water that occurs beneath a water table in soils and rocks, or in geological formations.

Answer 26

Groundwater

Question 27

means relative ease with which a contaminant located at or near the land surface can migrate to the aquifer or deep well.

Answer 27

Groundwater vulnerability

Question 28

means the identified areas of the land surface where groundwater quality is most at risk from human activities and shall reflect the different degrees of groundwater vulnerability based on a range of soil properties and hydro geological criteria to serve as guide in the protection of the groundwater from contamination.

Answer 28

Groundwater vulnerability map

Question 29

means any waste or combination of wastes of solid liquid, contained gaseous, or semi-solid form which cause, of contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness, taking into account toxicity of such waste, its persistence and degradability in nature, its potential for accumulation or concentration in tissue, and other factors that may otherwise cause or contribute to adverse acute or chronic effects on the health of persons or organism.

Answer 29

Hazardous waste

Question 30

means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste material with no commercial value released by a manufacturing or processing plant other than excluded material.

Answer 30

Industrial waste

Question 31

means the policy guideline integrating all the existing frameworks prepared by all government agencies contain the following; water quality goals and targets; (b) period of compliance; (c) water pollution control strategies and techniques; (d) water quality information and education program; (e) human resources development program.

Answer 31

Integrated Water Quality Management Framework

Question 32

means a landward and outer limiting edge adjacent to the border of any water bodies or a limit beyond where beyond where saturation zone ceases to exist.

Answer 32

Margin

Question 33

means a report to be prepared by the Department indicating: a) the location of water bodies, their quality, taking into account seasonal, tidal and others variations, existing and potential uses and sources of pollution per specific pollutant and pollution load assessment; b) water quality management areas pursuant to Section 5 of this Act; c) and water classification.

Answer 33

National Water Quality Status Report

Question 34

means any identifiable source of pollution with specific point of discharge into a particular water body.

Answer 34

Point source

Question 34

means any source of pollution not identifiable as point source to include, but not be limited to, runoff from irrigation or rainwater, which picks up pollutants from farms and urban areas.

Answer 34

Non-point source

Question 35

shall refer to any substance, whether solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive, which directly or indirectly alters the quality of any segment of the receiving water body to affect or tend to affect adversely any beneficial use thereof;

Answer 35

Pollutant

Question 36

means pollution control devices or apparatus, processes, or other means that effectively prevent control or reduce pollution of water caused by effluents and other discharges, from any point source at levels within the water pollution standards.

Answer 36

Pollution control technology

Question 36

include isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, and other disposable medical equipment and material that may pose a risk to the public health, welfare or the marine environment.

Answer 36

Potentially infectious medical waste

Question 37

means the sludge produced on individual onsite wastewater disposal systems, principally septic tanks and cesspools.

Answer 37

Septage

Question 38

means water-borne human or animal wastes, excluding oil or oil wastes, removed from residences, building, institutions, industrial and commercial establishments together with such groundwater, surface water and storm water as maybe present including such waste from vessels, offshore structures, other receptacles intended to receive or retain waste or other places or the combination thereof.

Answer 38

Sewage

Question 39

includes, but is not limited to, any system or network of pipelines, ditches, channels, or conduits including pumping stations, lift stations and force mains, service connections including other constructions, devices, and appliances appurtenant thereto, which includes the collection, transport, pumping and treatment of sewage to a point of disposal.

Answer 39

Sewerage

Question 40

means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste or residue generated from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or water control pollution facility, or any other such waste having similar characteristics and effects.

Answer 40

Sludge

Question 41

means all water, which is open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff.

Answer 41

Surface water

Question 42

means any method, technique, or process designed to alter the physical, chemical or biological and radiological character or composition of any waste or wastewater to reduce or prevent pollution.

Answer 42

Treatment

Question 43

means the lowest amount of concentration of toxic pollutants, which may cause chronic or long-term acute or lethal conditions or effects to the aquatic life, or health of persons or which may adversely affect designated water uses.

Answer 43

Toxic amount

Question 44

means any material either solid, liquid, semisolid, contained gas or other forms resulting industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural operations, or from community and household activities that is devoid of usage and discarded.

Answer 44

Waste

Question 45

means waste in liquid state containing pollutants.

Answer 45

Wastewater

Question 46

means both natural and man-made bodies of fresh, brackish, and saline waters, and includes, but is not limited to, aquifers, groundwater, springs, creeks, streams, rivers, ponds, lagoons, water reservoirs, lakes, bays, estuarine, coastal and marine waters. Water bodies do not refer to those constructed, developed and used purposely as water treatment facilities and / or water storage for recycling and re-use which are integral to process industry or manufacturing.

Answer 46

Water body

Question 47

means any alteration of the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological properties of a water body resulting in the impairment of its purity or quality.

Answer 47

Water Pollution

Question 48

means the characteristics of water, which define its use in characteristics by terms of physical, chemical, biological, bacteriological or radiological characteristics by which the acceptability of water is evaluated.

Answer 48

Water Quality

Question 49

means the level for a water constituent or numerical values of physical, chemical, biological and bacteriological or radiological parameters which are used to classify water resources and their use, which does not result in significant health risk and which are not intended for direct enforcement but only for water quality management purposes, such as determining time trends, evaluating stages of deterioration or enhancement of the water quality, and as basis for taking positive action in preventing, controlling or abating water pollution.

Answer 49

Water quality guidelines

Question 50

includes, but not be limited to, the following: (a) goals and targets including sewerage or septage program, (b) schedule of compliance to meet the applicable requirements of this Act; (c) water pollution control strategies or techniques; (d) water quality information and education program; e) resource requirement and possible sources; f) enforcement procedures of the plan and (g) rewards and incentives under Chapter 4 of this Act.

Answer 50

Water Quality Management Area Action Plan

Question 51

Who signed the RA 9275?

Answer 51

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Question 52

When was the approval date of RA 9275?

Answer 52

March 22, 2004